[Must-see for sales jobs] Explain the merits, demerits, and effective methods of telework!

In recent years, due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection, many companies have introduced telework.
As a result, an increasing number of companies are shifting from face-to-face sales to telework.

However, those who have traditionally worked face-to-face may be worried about teleworking.

Therefore, this time, we will introduce the methods (tools) for successful telework sales activities by explaining the advantages and disadvantages of telework.

If you are considering introducing telework in sales, please refer to it.

What is telework?

Telework is a flexible work style that utilizes ICT (information and communication technology) and is not bound by time or place.

Telework is a general term for three forms: telecommuting, mobile work, and satellite office work (facility-based work).
Both work away from the office they belong to.

Advantages of introducing telework to sales staff

Operational efficiency

You can streamline your work by reducing travel time.

Traditional salespeople spend a third of their workday, or 13 hours a week, traveling.

If you introduce telework in sales, you can save about 13 hours a week.
Therefore, in addition to being able to increase the number of business negotiations, you can work on document creation with leeway.

For telework sales, it is a good idea to use online business negotiations.

Cost reduction

By introducing telework in sales, you can reduce costs.

In the past, there were many expenses such as transportation expenses necessary for commuting to and from work, business trips, and office rent.

However, if you introduce telework, you can reduce transportation costs and running costs to maintain the office.

Easy to secure human resources

If telework is possible, you can work flexibly without time and place restrictions.
As a result, job seekers regard the company as a “friendly company to work for” and the number of salespeople who want to work for the company increases.

In addition, you will be able to secure human resources that could not be hired due to time and place constraints, despite having high skills.

Newcomers become ready-to-work forces

In the conventional sales style that depends on individual skills, it was difficult to share know-how, making it difficult to nurture new employees.

However, if you use the recording function of the online business negotiation tool for telework, you can easily share and review the flow of talks and business negotiations.

This makes it easier for newcomers with little practical experience to improve their skills.

Disadvantages of introducing telework to sales staff

It is necessary to prepare the environment necessary for telework

In order to conduct sales activities smoothly with telework, it is necessary to introduce tools for telework, improve the communication environment, and take security measures.
These have a corresponding initial cost.

In addition, companies that switch from going to the office to teleworking may need to change and share internal rules.

Possibility of inadequate employee management

Telework, which makes it difficult to understand the situation of each employee, makes management difficult.

For example, there is a risk of stagnation of information sharing and complication of attendance management.

In order to avoid these, take measures such as introducing an in-house SNS to create an environment that facilitates information sharing, and introducing an attendance management system to simplify attendance management.

It is difficult to understand customer reactions during online business negotiations

Unlike face-to-face communication, online communication makes it difficult to proceed with business negotiations based on the other person’s facial expressions, voice, and atmosphere.

Therefore, it is better to use face-to-face and online depending on the purpose, such as the characteristics of the product and the personality of the customer.

How to successfully telework for sales positions (tools)

When introducing telework, use tools that facilitate work.
Introducing the tools you need for telework sales activities.

online negotiation system

The online business negotiation system is a system that allows business negotiations via the web instead of face-to-face.

In addition to the video call function, the online business negotiation system is equipped with a function that allows you to share materials, record business negotiations, and record the contents of business negotiations with automatic voice memos.

SFA

SFA (Sales Force Automation) is called “sales support system” in Japanese, and is a tool that automates business processes in sales.

Specifically, it has the following functions.

• Customer management
• Project management
• Opportunity management
• Sales forecast
• Schedule management
• make a quote
• Daily/Weekly report

By visualizing and automating part of the business process of sales in this way, telework sales activities can proceed smoothly.

In-house SNS

By introducing an in-house SNS, you can facilitate information sharing and communication between employees.

Compared to conventional e-mail exchanges, it has the advantage of being able to transmit information easily with less process until transmission.

In-house SNS functions include a function that allows you to respond with a single stamp, and a function that allows you to store and search for information sent.

summary

In this article, we introduced the advantages and disadvantages of telework, as well as methods (tools) for successful telework sales activities.

Please refer to this article and try to introduce telework in sales.